Motego Bay and Dunns River Falls are tourist traps. The falls are pretty but they are always filled with tons of people filing off busses, then when you head back you get trapped in cheap tourist shops where people will do anything to get your money(not illegal, just extremely persuasive)

Jamaica is a wonderful country, but you really need to get away from the tourist stuff to fully see it. I think the positive legacy is great because it's not only for a great cause, but it's a real opportunity to catch the vibe of the island.

we've just walked a cpl of miles away from the port,,,{the avg person walks a mile in 15mins},,,and we've done this each and every time we've stopped in Jamaica,,and we've found spices that are sold in sandwich bags,,we found places to eat that have NO menus, NO waitstaff in a uniform,,,Jamaica has been for us the best port to get a true taste & feel of another country!!!

we've just walked a cpl of miles away from the port,,,{the avg person walks a mile in 15mins},,,and we've done this each and every time we've stopped in Jamaica,,and we've found spices that are sold in sandwich bags,,we found places to eat that have NO menus, NO waitstaff in a uniform,,,Jamaica has been for us the best port to get a true taste & feel of another country!!!

exactly. It's such a unique and beautiful country. I get it if you really want to zipline or something like that, go for it. I know we are short of time and I'm not suggesting you can really soak it all in during the timeframe we are off the boat. But if you want to experience the place for what it is, don't do anything MSC recommends. Yes there's rampant poverty, and some dangerous areas. But the people I met were totally open and friendly. Within the first 3 hours of my arrival in Jamaica, I had a two hour conversation with a guy in a store about Bob Marley. Ended up paying him a hundred bucks the next day to drive us around all day, ANYWHERE we wanted to go. Worth every penny.

That's what we did last time. I was recovering from some bug I caught on the boat, so we just walked until we found a positively amazing place to hang out with locals and really feel like we were in Jamaica. It was a very beautiful experience, and I wouldn't mind repeating it. I've also had amazing experiences on excursions at other ports of call, though, and would definitely be open to hearing about any that folks enjoyed!

The last time we were in Falmouth, I went on a river tubing excursion and it was fun (though the river is probably nothing more than a Class .5) - got to see the lush land outside of the port, met some fun locals (our guides, who were a crack-up), even got to buy some locally made pottery (there was a potter studio on the old plantation where we had our "base camp"). There was even a snack bar, where we could buy some excellent bbq and beer! The only beef was that due to having to wait for stragglers in our group, we were rather late getting back to the Poesia and almost missed getting back on.

This time 'round, I think I'll take y'all's suggestion and go walkabout to see some of the local flava I missed last time.

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